It's Little Prairie in the House:
Decorating 19th-Century Style

Jane Novick was "terrified" at the thought of taking down her contemporary photographs and nailing pioneer-era farm shovels to the wall of her Bridgehampton, N.Y., living room.

But she went ahead and mounted eight antique wooden shovels above the sofa as "found sculpture" -- and the look is growing on her. "You never would have thought of putting prairie shovels on the wall," Ms. Novick says. "But...